How App Store Search Ranks Apps: What Apple Says

The short answer

Apple says App Store search results are ranked by text relevance, which means matches for your app's title, subtitle, keywords and primary category, together with user behavior such as downloads and ratings and reviews. Your metadata decides which searches you can appear for; behavior influences how high you appear.

What does Apple say about App Store ranking?

Apple describes two groups of signals. The first is text relevance: how well your app's title, subtitle, keywords and primary category match the search. The second is user behavior: downloads, ratings and reviews, and more. Apple has not published a formula or any weights.

Signal	What Apple says, and what practice adds
App name	Apple: a text relevance field, up to 30 characters. Practice: reported to weigh the most of the three text fields you write.
Subtitle	Apple: a text relevance field, up to 30 characters. Practice: reported to weigh about like the keyword field, and customers can read it.
Keywords	Apple: a text relevance field, 100 characters, private. Practice: single words, combined with words from the other fields.
Categories	Apple: the primary category is indexed, and so is the optional secondary category. Practice: choose the one closest to how customers search.
Company name	Apple: an app is searchable by its app name and company name. Practice: no need to repeat it in the keywords.
Downloads	Apple: part of user behavior. Practice: how fast an app gains installs for a term is often cited.
Ratings and reviews	Apple: they influence how an app ranks in search, and appear in the results. Practice: both the average and the number of ratings seem to matter.

Lines marked Practice are what the ASO community has measured by testing. Apple does not confirm them.

What does not affect App Store search ranking?

Promotional text. Apple says it doesn't affect your app's search ranking, so don't use it for keywords. You can change it without a new version.
The description. Apple does not list it among the ranking fields and advises against adding unnecessary keywords to it. Its first sentence matters most for customers, so write it as a pitch.
The icon and screenshots. They are not text, so they don't make you match a search. They do decide how many people who see you tap. Apple notes the first one to three screenshots show in search results when there is no app preview.

How do ratings and downloads affect ranking?

Apple lists downloads and ratings and reviews as user behavior that feeds into search results, and says ratings and reviews also appear in search results where they can encourage people to tap. The practical reading is a loop: a relevant listing earns installs for a phrase, installs and good ratings lift your position, and a higher position earns more installs.

That is why metadata alone can't hold a rank an app has not earned. Start with the text, which you control completely, and keep the app good enough that people stay.

Where else can your app appear in search?

Custom product pages. Apple lets you choose keywords for which a custom product page appears in search results instead of your default page.
Ads. Apple Ads can place a promoted app in search results. Those placements are labelled ads and are separate from the organic ranking this guide describes.

What can you control?

You control: the name, subtitle, keywords, categories, localizations, product page assets and custom product pages.
You influence: ratings, downloads, retention, and how the app is talked about.
You don't control: Apple's weights, what competitors change, and what customers type.

Spend your effort in that order. What you control is free, takes effect as soon as a version ships, and is measurable.

How long do changes take to show?

New metadata goes live with a new app version, after App Review. Rankings then move over the following days to weeks as Apple re-reads the listing and customers respond. That timing is the community's experience, not an Apple promise, so track your rank daily and judge a change over several weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Does the app description affect App Store search ranking?

Apple does not list the description among the fields that search relevance is based on, and it advises against adding unnecessary keywords to it. Use it to convince people to download, starting with the first sentence.

Do ratings affect where my app ranks in App Store search?

Yes. Apple says ratings and reviews influence how an app ranks in search, and they appear in search results where they can influence whether someone taps.

Does promotional text help my app rank?

No. Apple says promotional text doesn't affect your app's search ranking. It is for current news about the app, and you can edit it without submitting a new version.

Is App Store ranking the same as Google Play ranking?

No. Google Play reads the full description for search, while Apple lists the title, subtitle, keywords and category as its text signals. The complete guide compares the two stores.

How can I see where my app ranks for a phrase?

Search the phrase in the App Store and find your app, or use a rank tracker. Quick ASO checks your rank for every phrase in your listing against Apple's public search results and records it daily.

Sources

What this guide says about Apple comes from these pages, which Apple can change. Statements marked as practice come from ASO testing, not from Apple.

See where your own app stands

Quick ASO lists every phrase your app ranks for, scores each one and tells you what to change. It is free to look. Open the app →